Happy New Year!

The scene at La Te Da for the New Year.

Iguana

We went on a dinghy ride through the mangroves and Suzan spied this beast. This was a cool find!

Goodnight, Key West.

Chugs

There is a collection of "chugs" at the Botanical Garden. A chug is a boat for bringing migrants from Cuba to the US. These are usually homemade vessels built as open boats to make the crossing of 90 miles. The Gulf Stream runs through these waters, so conditions can be rough. The modifications to the boats often include adding higher sides to help with the big seas. The chug pictured here has an aspirational US flag on the bow.

Botanical Garden

A Cuban Wax Palm from our visit to the Key West Botanical Garden yesterday. These are critically endangered trees, so we hope they can be saved.

Zinc Day

Today is the day we change our sacrificial zinc's under the waterline. A diver is coming to clean the bottom and do the switch. For those readers who are non-boaters, this is something we do every 6 months to prevent electrolysis from eating valuable metal parts in the water!

Too Many Toes?

The cats at the Hemingway house are famous for their extra toes… apparently they were bred for sailing, the thought being that they could hang on better in rough seas.

Movies

There's a classic movie theater here in Key West. We're definitely going to try it out!

Good morning, Stock Island

Just ran across this classic schooner, "When and If", in our marina this morning. I think I saw this boat in New England last summer. We'll have to chat up the owner and get the story…

Key West, Baby

Spending time on Duval Street, picking up the local vibe.

Key West!

We have arrived at our winter home on Stock Island, adjacent to Key West. It feels great to be here and we look forward to a couple of months of staying in one place!

Turtle Hospital

We took a tour of the Turtle Hospital and learned about the challenges that turtles are facing in the world. 

Florida Bay

Look at those colors! We motored along Florida Bay on our way to Marathon today. We are tied up to a dock for the first time in 4 days. It's time to rinse off the salt and have a nice dinner out.

Good morning, Matecumbe

SueBumi

We wanted to have some shade on the bow and Suzan decided to make this one, based on the "Shibumi". So, we call it the "SueBumi"! We gave it a test run today and it works ridiculously well when the boat is at anchor with a moderate breeze. We'll continue to refine the design as we go.

Anchorage

We're anchored behind Matacumbe Key for the night. I could see the anchor when it touched down! So great to be able to see the bottom.

Boca Chita Lighthouse

Of course, we had to climb the lighthouse!

Sensei

Sensei enjoying the southern latitudes of Florida… (Boca Chita Key in Biscayne National Park).

Boca Chita

Our view for the afternoon. We had an easy ride down Biscayne Bay and arrived at high tide. The channel to enter the harbor can be shallow, so high tide was the right time to arrive. We never had less than 7 feet as we came in, so there's probably at least 5 feet at low tide. We draw 4.5 feet, hence our caution.

Fog

This morning we had fog before dawn, but it burned off by 8:00. We'll be heading a little south today to Boca Chita.

Sundown from Key Biscayne

Miami

We made our run today on the outside, leaving Lake Worth inlet, running down the beach to the Miami Inlet. We dodged small recreational fishing boats, but it was much easier than navigating all of the bridges for this section of the ICW. We wait for weather opportunities to make this work, and today we had northerly winds, 5-10 knots with 3-5 foot swells. We're anchored now just off Key Biscayne.

Good night, West Palm

Big Boats

West Palm Beach is the land of superyachts. This is "Bravo Eugenia", over 350 feet. She is owned by Jerry Jones, also owner of the Cowboys. This might be one of the richest areas we've ever dropped an anchor.

Anchorage

We dropped anchor in Lake Worth after a 50 mile run. The weather is pleasant and we're enjoying an afternoon at anchor.

Good morning, Ft. Pierce

We'll be underway later this morning, headed to Palm Beach…

Fort Pierce

We arrived in Fort Pierce this afternoon, and for the first time in a long while, I can say "it's hot"! We're looking forward to meeting up with some friends this evening.

Good Morning, Cape Canaveral!

Space

Somewhere between here and there, the Orion spacecraft is making its way home to Earth.

NASA

We just dropped anchor next to the NASA Causeway Bridge. There is a new bridge under construction, so we're hoping the noise stops at sunset…

Moonrise

Watching moonrise at the Tini Martini Bar tonight.

Morning Walk

Provisioning Day

Today we're trying to knock out as many chores as possible, including provisioning and laundry. We had a mechanic out this morning to determine what parts we need to fix our coolant leak. It may take a while to get the parts, so we'll have them shipped forward to Key West.

Good morning, St. Augustine

St. Augustine

We arrived in St. Augustine today. Getting cleaned up and ready for guests for HH…

Christmas Parade

For our final night in Fernandina Beach, we watched the Christmas Lights Parade on Center Street. 

Good Night, Fernandina.

Breakfast at Nana’s

We found an excellent bakery for a pastry!

Fernandina

Amelia Island

We arrived at Fernandina this afternoon. It's a very nice town for walking, so we got a little exercise today.

Brunswick

Brunswick is a large commercial port, but after passing this big guy, we came to the downtown which has a nice collection of restaurants.

Onward

Sensei heading out this morning. We have arrived in Brunswick, our last stop in Georgia. Thanks again to "Anodyne"!

Isle of Hope

Good morning, from Isle of Hope. We're just outside of Savannah on a crisp, clear morning. It's expected to be windy today, but we will be in the ICW which is well protected. Next stop is Brunswick.